AIBU to report a flat being used for Airbnb?

[VeryQuaintIrene]

Interested in others' opinions on this one. The management in my block explicitly prohibit airbnb rentals. I was pretty sure that the flat opposite mine was being used like this and I did a little sleuthing and found it on the site. Normally, I might decide that it's none of my business (the guests have not been disruptive) except that the owners deliberately turfed out the lovely woman who lived there with her family, causing her a lot of financial and other stress, so that they could make way more money than with a regular tenancy. Should I tell the management company? I think my motives maybe are a bit vengeful (and obviously it's too late for my lovely ex-neighbour) and I probably won't do anything, but what does everyone think?

Oh I would!

I would report them. The landlords have broken the rules of the building and should be reminded of them. Collect as much evidence as possible and link times to CCTV or a ring doorbell that can capture the hard going on as well as the AirBnB ad.

This is what I think. It could be the start of lots of neighbours following suit.

''for no reason other than that it wasn’t allowed in our building''

Well, it is a perfectly good reason to report you!

Your lease did not allow for flats to be let as AirBnBs and the building insurance would not cover that type of letting so why on earth would you think it was OK to do it?

Some people's sense of entitlement is really mind blowing.

It is all good and well until one of your guests burns down the kitchen or causes flooding by leaving something on and damages the building and then you all find out that your building insurance won't cover any of it...daft.

Yes you have a legal obligation under statutory legislation the Landlord & tenant act as co-leaseholder of the block in which you contribute to landlords maintenance costs which includes block insurance and compliance by these people with terms and conditions of their lease contract.

The lease T& Cs allows the leaseholders to occupy the flat, and this is in a mortgage agreement. The leaseholder does not own the flat, only the right to live there.

Most leases do not allow subletting and the management company acting on behalf of the landlord can forfeit the lease on these grounds because the landlord cannot treat one flat differently from the others.

I probably would since its prohibited.

I get that you feel conflicted and biased, which is your moral radar wondering if its right.

But I wouldn't want a neighbour who breaks the rules either. What next?

YANBU OP, they sound horrid and will get their karma.
In the meantime though, it sounds like they are violating rules for financial gain, and you don’t make them so you wouldn’t be wrong for speaking up. Facts is facts 😉

Great point.

@cashmerecow

Seriously, why would you bother to make such an unhelpful (and inaccurate) comment? I hope you too will find something better to do with your life than this.

OP is posting about something which is against the tenancy agreement, and she has now been advised may impact her and other tenants’ insurance.

Considering she has an 88:12 vote in favour of not being unreasonable maybe it is you who needs to find something good to do with your life.

It can't be that difficult to prove as there is literally a listing for the flat on the Airbnb website and app.

Tourist rentals have a detrimental effect on the availability of residential housing in many regions, whether Airbnb or other platforms. OP's neighbours are one of many families thrown out of their homes so that the owners make more money. Added to this there is a generation of owners who buy solely to rent out tourist rentals.

The tourist rentals often have a disturbing effect on the lives of the residents due to noise and lack of security. For this reason many management companies and communities forbid them.

The owners of properties in those communities where tourists rentals are forbidden but still rent out to tourists have no more rights than the rest of the householders. They are, frankly, taking the mickey out of the rest of the householders who follow the rules. It's usually call greed.

Report them with a clear conscience.

Report, because it’s socially harmful, and if more people do it your block will be very, very different.

Not in a good way. This happened to a mate of mine who’s now the only resident of party town.

I did this a year ago. We live in a popular area, and it was rented every weekend throughout Summer. People were coming back making ridiculous amounts of noise at all hours affecting our sleep every weekend. Our floor has two young families as well as us and they were getting annoyed too.

The weekend renters also regularly bothered us when they'd locked themselves out (the front door to each flat is a bugger) or had questions. Not sure why they thought we were responsible. I probably wouldn't have said anything if there hadn't been a couple of encounters that made me feel a little concerned for the safety of our floor.

Turns out the owner was already in trouble for installing a keysafe outside without permission.

Flat has since been occupied by a lovely family.

Zero regrets.

Air BnB take 15% of the total plus there are cleaning fees and they cover bills (whereas a tenant covers their own bills). There are probably a lot of costs you wouldn't have thought of.

I vote to report them, so many are rented out whilst the named tenant claims benefit too.
If the owner isn’t living there /occupying then it requires a second home council tax premium, they probably aren’t paying tax either.
It’s disruptive to tenants and a security risk- would you want to live by one? All the comings and goings- no thank you!

Def report as breaking their lease terms! Also regulations for a holiday let are different than those for a normal tenancy - fire regulations for one - bet they’re not even compliant!

I would, what if all the flat owners start doing the same?

Absolutely you should report it. Chances are the buildings insurance doesn’t cover short lets.
It’s not ok for people to just flaunt the rules. It’ll be a breach of the lease.

It's a clear breach of the lease. Airbnbs cause a lot of stress and additional wear and tear in the communal areas from guests lugging cases and bags, additional noise and footfall, and additional service charges.

I wouldn't hesitate in asking the freeholder to take action.

Having lived next door to an Airbnb, I would report. The rules are there to protect you and other residents. Sooner or later you will have trouble from Airbnb use in the form of noise, lack of security, inappropriate behaviour of various kinds etc. Best to get sorted out now.

Actually nearly every flat lease I have looked at allows subletting. Subletting is when a person purchases the lease/and then rents it out to a family.

Airbnb is against the majority of lease conditions because the property is let to a series of occupants rather than a single person or family for an extended period. It's the series of occupants that is prohibited in the majority of residential leases.

The term prohibiting airbnb usually refers to private residential use, or specifically excludes business use, and/or often stipulates a single family use as those with a familial relationship to each other to also avoid the property being rented out as an HMO.

I own and rent our flat out and it specifically says no holiday rentals allowed in the leasehold. The block was built in 1996, way before the popularity of all these rental platforms.

I would definitely report it to the agency/freeholder of the flats. Rules are rules and what they’re doing is illegal. Our property is on the edge of the Peak District, we’d make a fortune if we could do this, but we can’t.